HEALTH broke into the fore with a penchant for the experimental and experiential chaos of mankind. The revival of the industrial has perhaps never been more impressive than what this band has accomplished. Their double album Vol4 released in 2020 and 2022 seemed to be a purgatorial echo of the mania that the world was engulfed in. Just in time to observe and scrutinize, they release another gem that manifests their own sound into what they have found in this genre. This is called Rat Wars, and it is an amalgam of melody and distant dissonance.
HEALTH have also collaborated with a group that has to be their heroes, Nine Inch Nails. The forefathers of industrial and the torch-bearers released a song together, featured in Vol4. Featured in several video games, including Cyberpunk 2077 and Max Payne 3. The band has created a dynamic that infuses synth sheets that loudly attack guitars and a contrasting vocal call that only Jake Duzsik can execute to this level.
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Finding meaning in the industrial trenches
Rat Wars is HEALTH solo, excluding two features. It shows them in quiet contemplation for a year after their part 2 released, a quality sequel to the first half having so many collaborations. If anyone must credit the mix of thrash metal distortion with hip-hop trap beats, all the flowers go to HEALTH. The moment Demigod opens with its ominous tone, you know you’re in for some standard goodness from this band. Percussions elevate the cinematic escapade that the trio creates from reality. To hear the echoing vocals Jake delivers, the distorted guitar takes a step back, intelligently. It is the perfect kind of opening song after the song THESE DAYS 2.0.2.1.
Industrial chaos breaks out with Future of Hell, their second track. It feels like something that a club would play during a John Wick fight scene. Credit to the band to making something that metalheads seem to hate heavy as hell. Challenging the norm is something HEALTH have been doing since 2007.
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SIERRA collaborates for the third single. It is an industrial delight to experience, making for some effusing electronic layers. Building like a techno song, the tributary takes us to some brilliant vocal parts, energies coalescing at the precipice of the crest. You get a scale jump that the chorus entertains, making for a punch of a single. Singles like (OF ALL ELSE) makes sure that your interludes aren’t spaces of deep thinking. They seem to offer that chain of continuity, red-hot as it forges the link between their music. Thematically, HEALTH are once again going after the institutions set up to enslave thought, restrict progress with the simplest of ruses.
Maybe nothing might excite you like Crack Metal. The soft vocals with the filter floats above the thundering pace of the song. As you wait for the chorus to explode, the sinister yet simple riff will draw a smile on your face. We slow the effect for the next song Unloved, that promises punching percussion with the echoing distorted synth that HEALTH has perfected through the years.
Metal, manifested methodically
We aren’t in a position to question these themes that the trio have meditated over. They are repetitive patterns, and they’re tired of seeing it being glanced over. Masters of transition, they give their all to each song-no matter the state of nihilism they seem to reach. Find metal in the mastery of Children of Sorrow, where they make the synths disappear, just for a second. If anything, the riff is amplified by the electronic build up, to make something that is awe-inspiring. It is an immediate banger, the energies becoming one that creates a “tension and release” system. Godflesh adds their tone to the next single, Sicko. The screams are the perfect contrast to Jake’s vocals, seeming like an oceanic tide in comparison to the guttural screams.
Ashamed is almost acoustic, as raw as you can hear HEALTH. The beats and minimal surrounds are all that build the song, almost having a pop hook to reason with. It is an amazing feat, to retain and forge a sound that cannot be replicated, for no one could pull it off like this.
John Famiglietti has taken his presence to another level after the departure of Jupiter Keyes in 2015. Every album after has found a niche within these topics that point to decay and destruction in our society. Leave it to HEALTH to make cynicism sound so good.
We have no idea what they do next, and we probably shouldn’t. There is a possibility that the band will have some more video games to score, and have a huge following from the community. Bringing together metalheads, gamers and music enthusiasts from everywhere, we present to you a rage manifested. This is how you deal with society descending into chaos, artistically:
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